Field Officer, Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars, 1900

Description

In response to a call by William Pitt the Younger for troops of volunteers to be formed in the shires, a meeting of “Nobility, Gentry, Freeholders and Yeomanry” was called at the Star Inn in Cornmarket, Oxford in 1794. This led to the formation in 1798 of a troop of yeomen known as the County Fencible Cavalry at Watlington, Oxfordshire in 1798. Some of the troops of yeomanry were consolidated to form the North Western Oxfordshire Regiment of Yeomanry in 1818. Francis Spencer, 1st Baron Churchill (brother of the 5th Duke of Marlborough) became lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. After a visit of Queen Adelaide, the regiment became Queen’s Own Royal Oxfordshire Yeomanry Cavalry in 1835 and Hussars in 1888. Sir Winston Churchill joined the QOOH as a captain in 1902 remaining a supporter for the rest of his life, having a significant influence on the fortunes of the regiment during both World Wars, and a place of honour at his funeral. In 1922, the regiment became part of the Royal Artillery and is maintained today as 142 (Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars) Vehicle Squadron Royal Logistic Corps. This is the levee dress of the regiment, in ornate purple pantaloons and braided hessian boots. In most full-dress uniforms at that time senior officers had more elaborate embroidery than their juniors but this cuff was as elaborate as any. In full dress the purple pantaloons would have been replaced by dark blue ones with a white stripe.

Source: Uniform in the National Army Museum.